Liverpool’s plans to open the upper tier of the expanded Anfield Road stand have been dealt a significant blow.
The stadium will not be fully reopened until 2024, meaning capacity will remain around 51,000.
The delay in the Anfield Road stand expansion project resulted from the original contractors, Buckingham Group, filing for administration in August.
Liverpool appointed a new contractor, Rayner Rowen, hoping that a portion of the upper stand could be opened in time for the Merseyside derby against Everton on October 21.
However, this plan has been abandoned. The focus has shifted to ensuring the entire stand, which will eventually increase Anfield’s overall capacity to 61,000, will be ready in the new year.
Liverpool will contact supporters who have already purchased tickets for the Everton game regarding the changes.
The disruption caused by the switch in contractors has led to uncertainty surrounding the £80 million renovation project.
Liverpool CEO Billy Hogan said (via the club’s official website): “What that means for supporters is that until we have visibility of all the information needed, we’re going to have to maintain the status quo for the remainder of the calendar year.”
“This essentially means capacity at Anfield will remain the same as for the previous home games that we’ve seen this season, with the lower tier of the stand remaining open and the upper tier remaining closed until the end of the calendar year.
“We’re not going to be able to open in time for the Everton game or any home games for this calendar year.”
“There’s a lot of different, various factors that are going into this discussion and this review, so many pieces of the jigsaw that we need to pull together, so it’s just not possible at this point to put a new timeline in place.
“And, frankly, we don’t want to set the wrong expectation.”
